Percentages of Dublin commuters who mainly cycle (Census 2011)
By council area and areas:
County Dublin 5.1% (includes the four council areas)
Dublin City 7.6%
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown 5.8%
Fingal 2.3%
South Dublin 3.1%
Pembroke-Rathmines 12.25%
Crumlin-Kimmage 9.34%
South-West Inner City 8.97%
South-East Inner City 8.64%
Clontarf 8.51%
Dundrum 7.88%
Blackrock 7.53%
Cabra-Glasnevin 7.52%
North Inner City 7.52%
Rathfarnham 5.96%
Stillorgan 5.75%
Artane-Whitehall 5.08%
Dún Laoghaire 4.99%
Ballymun-Finglas 4.44%
Ballyfermot-Drimnagh 4.41%
Donaghmede 3.76%
Tallaght Central 3.73%
Castleknock 3.48%
Glencullen-Sandyford 3.13%
Tallaght South 2.26%
Mulhuddart 2.22%
Swords 2.17%
Lucan 2.11%
Howth-Malahide 2.10%
Clondalkin 2.02%
Balbriggan 1.58%
Source: Census 2011, CSO
Percentages of Dublin commuters who mainly cycle (Census 2006)
Dublin City: 5.6%
Artane – 924 – 4.33%
Ballyfermot – 530 – 3.35%
Ballymun/Whitehall – 636 – 3.94%
Cabra/Glasnevin – 1756 – 6.09%
Clontarf – 2107 – 6.63%
Crumlin/Kimmage – 2134 – 6.96%
Donaghmede – 1006 – 3.47%
Finglas – 799 – 3.93%
North Inner City – 1837 – 5.13%
Pembroke – 1144 – 5.94%
Rathmines – 2509 – 9.62%
South-East Inner City – 1227 – 5.84%
South-West Inner City – 1419 – 6.20%
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown: 3.85%
Ballybrack – 585 – 2.08%
Blackrock – 914 – 4.56%
Dundrum – 1527 – 6.13%
Dún Laoghaire – 865 – 3.48%
Glencullen – 470 – 2.54%
Stillorgan – 634 – 4.70%
Fingal: 1.95%
Balbriggan – 448 – 1.64%
Castleknock – 724 – 2.68%
Howth – 318 – 2.46%
Malahide – 260 – 1.24%
Mulhuddart – 810 – 2.25%
Swords – 660 – 1.60%
South Dublin – 2.77%
Clondalkin – 748 – 2.58%
Lucan – 582 – 1.67%
Tallaght Central – 476 – 1.91%
Tallaght South – 694 – 1.85%
Terenure/Rathfarnham – 2162 – 5.15%
Source: Census 2006, CSO
These are really interesting statistics. They support other data collected showing the steady growth of cycling as an option for commuters. It’s also interesting to see the greatest concentration is in town and gradually decreases as you go further out. This is hardly too surprising given the further distance. However, Dublin is a small city and the distances are ideally suited to cycling (M50 to city centre is approx 30 minutes). The problem for commuters is the perception of risk. If we have better infrastructure, there are significant numbers of commuters out there who will switch to the cycle option.
It’s important to remember that if there are more commuters on cycle lanes and tracks, then there will be more capacity on the road to accommodate the car commuter (at least in the short run). In other words, spending money on cycling facilities will also benefit the motorist.
The cycleways in the central area are great. We also need to look at options for getting more commuters from the suburbs to the canal cordon. Cycleways along riverbanks might be the preferred option for cyclists. However, we should also look at routes through permeable residential roads as a less expensive, and easier to deliver solution.
These statistics are very helpful in the discussion to justify investment in cycling. If we want to achieve the goal of 20% of commuters on bikes, we need better options for all travelers.